Kristie J’s review of Nova (Renegade, Book2) by Rebecca Yarros
Contemporary Romance published by Entangled Embrace 20 Feb 17
The first book in this series worked very well; this one, not so much for me. We met the hero Landon and heroine Rachel from Book 1, Wilder. Rachel is the best friend of Leah and Landon is a member of the Renegades, an Xtreme sports team and best friend of Wilder. Now, if you haven’t read the first book, beware, there are spoilers ahead.
Before the first book opened, Wilder and Rachel had been a couple. But then unbeknownst to Wilder, she started cheating on him with Landon. Now when he finds out, Wilder is none too happy with either one of them. He gave Landon a choice, either choose him and the rest of the Renegades and have no more communication with Rachel, or choose Rachel and he’s dumped from the Renegades. He chooses Wilder and the Renegades and leaves Rachel without a word.
Wilder has calmed down and seen the damage that Landon is experiencing and comes up with the very convoluted and very expensive plan to get them back together. He has his father sponsor a learning cruise/documentary. In order to make sure Rachel attends, he hires her best friend to act has his tutor. Unfortunately, Rachel is delayed in joining the course/cruise and joins three months into it. Imagine her astonishment when she discovers that Leah and her former love Wilder have fallen in love. But she clues into Wilder’s plan and wants nothing to do with Landon.
As soon as he sees her, though, Landon wants her back. He never got over her and has missed her every day since he left her. But Rachel was devastated when Landon left her. He was supposed to show up at the apartment they had just rented together, but he didn’t and she is left holding the financial bag. The fallout affects her education and her self-esteem. Why did he just leave her, her whole life even? How could he just choose them over her when she thought he was in love with her?
So this is the setup for the book – Landon trying to win her back and Rachel resisting. While the writing is great and the plot interesting, I have issues with the hero/heroine right from the get-go. Once they fell in love before the first book opens, why couldn’t they come clean to Wilder? She and Wilder weren’t a star-crossed pair. They just should have been upfront with him, because what they did do was the greater betrayal.
Another big issue for me is after Landon dumped Rachel, he became a total horn dog. I mean, this guy would stick his wick in even just a tiny spark, let alone a flame. While he seems appealing, I have no respect for him at all. He has no discretion, shows no care for any woman. His nickname is Casa Nova. Yuck. Just yuck. And while, yes, he does a lot of groveling to get Rachel back, I don’t get the sense he really “gets” the complete devastation he wrecked on her. It seems to me his pleas for forgiveness are because he wants her back, not that he’s truly sorry.
In the end, I just can’t see them working for long as a couple. Their love is based on physical attraction and their roots in betrayal of a friend. In the long run, I don’t know if she can get past the multitude of women he had and the fact he left her once would always be in the back of her mind. These facts, added to their youth, just don’t convince me.
I think this would work as a stand-alone, but I’d still recommend reading Wilder first. You get a better feel for the characters and, well, I liked it better.
Grade: C
Summary:
The only heart he wants is the one he already broke…
He’s Landon Rhodes.
The Renegade they call Nova.
Sinfully gorgeous, broody, tatted-up, professional snowboarder.
Four-time X Games medalist—
Full-time heartbreaker.They say a girl broke him once—
That’s why he’s so reckless, so driven, so careless with his conquests.
But I’m that girl.
They can call me his curse all they want.
He and I both know the truth—
He’s the one who destroyed me,
And I’m not the sucker who will let that happen again.
No excerpt available.
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